Rep. John Nygren, a Marinette Republican who nearly lost his daughter, Cassie, to a heroin overdose in 2009, wrote the legislation. The package includes bills that would allow all emergency responders with training to administer Narcan, a drug that counteracts overdoses; provide immunity for anyone who calls 911 to report an overdose; and expand prescription drug collection drives.

The criminal justice committee voted on the emergency responder, 911 and drug collection bills following a three-and-a-half-hour long public hearing. The Assembly health committee approved a fourth Nygren bill during a separate hearing Thursday afternoon that would require identification to obtain prescription drugs.

Committee approval clears the bills for consideration in front of the full Assembly. All four measures are on the Assembly’s Tuesday floor calendar.

“There is an immediate sense of urgency,” Nygren told the criminal justice committee. “This is an opportunity to save lives.”

Heroin use has spiked in Wisconsin as prescription drug addicts look for cheaper fixes. Heroin-related arrests statewide rose from 267 in 2008 to 673 in 2012, an increase of 152 percent, according to state Department of Justice statistics. Police made 408 arrests during the first six months of 2013, according to DOJ data.

Overdoses have been on the rise as well. Madison Fire Chief Steven Davis told reporters at the news conference last fall his department responded to 300 in 2012, double the number in 2007.

The Narcan bill would dramatically expand who can possess and administer the drug.

Under current state law, no one can possess it without a prescription and first responders and basic-level emergency medical technicians can’t administer it. The bill would allow anyone to possess or transfer the drug and first responders and basic EMTs trained in Narcan use could administer it. EMTs would be required to obtain such training. Police and firefighters also would be allowed to administer it if they were trained. Anyone who administers the drug would be immune from any legal liability.

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Under the 911 bill, anyone who seeks medical help for another person suffering an overdose would be immune from criminal prosecution for possessing drugs or drug paraphernalia. They could still be prosecuted for other crimes such as distribution, however.

The collection bill would allow DOJ and municipalities to authorize drug disposal programs.

The bills got pushback at the beginning of the hearing. Committee member Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee, a former state public defender, questioned eliminating liability for Narcan users. Dan Rottier, a personal injury attorney, echoed him, telling the committee he believed state law creates too many niches of immunity. And Mindy Allen, executive director of the Wisconsin Emergency Medical Services Association, complained the EMT training requirements for Narcan use amounts to an unfunded mandate.

Alex Hoffmann of Menomonee Falls told the committee his 22-year-old son, Shay, died of a heroin overdose in July. He implored legislators to do something before heroin destroys the state.

“You have questions. That’s understandable,” he said in a halting voice. “But doing nothing is unacceptable. We fail if we don’t try. If nothing is done I guarantee you (that) you will not recognize the state of Wisconsin in five years.”

Dr. Mike Miller, vice speaker of the Wisconsin Medical Society and an addiction specialist, said fears about liability are unfounded.

“Nobody dies from Narcan,” he said. “They die from not getting Narcan.”

Skye Tikkane, a substance abuse coordinator with Connections Counseling in Madison, told the committee she used heroin when she lived in Baltimore in the early 2000s. She praised the 911 immunity bill, saying the people she used with often told their friends to resuscitate them or throw them in the shower if they overdosed instead of calling authorities.

“This bill takes that fear away,” she said.

Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, pointed out that the bill doesn’t completely protect callers from prosecution. Tikkane said outside the hearing she realized that but still called the measure a good first step.

In the end the committee passed all three bills unanimously.

“I’m very fearful the testimony we heard today was true,” committee Chairman Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, said, “and is going to get worse.”